The 1986Cleveland Browns season was the team’s 37th season with the National Football League. The death of Don Rogers, a promising young defensive back who was preparing to enter his third season in the NFL, cast a black cloud over the team as it prepared for the 1986 season.

Cleveland won their first postseason game since 1969, and for the first time in franchise history, the Browns reached the AFC Championship Game, where they would eventually fall to the Denver Broncos, in the game famous for “The Drive.” It would be the first of three AFC Championship games that the Browns would reach in four seasons, all losses to Denver. It remains the best post-merger Browns season as of 2017.

The 1986 Browns finished 12–4 to not only win the division again, but also set a franchise record for regular-season victories in the NFL in addition to securing home-field advantage throughout the AFC playoffs.

In one of the most pulsating games in club history, the Browns edged the New York Jets 23–20 in double-overtime in the divisional playoffs. Then, in maybe the most disappointing contest in team annals, the Browns lost to the Denver Broncos by that same score in OT in the AFC Championship Game as quarterback John Elway orchestrated what has become known as The Drive. The Browns were involved in six contests decided by three points or less, and eight decided by six points or less. There were two OT games – in consecutive weeks, no less – when the Browns beat the Pittsburgh Steelers 37–31 and the Houston Oilers 13–10, both in Cleveland. That win started the Browns on a five-game winning streak to end the season, and it was also part of a stretch in which they won eight of nine contests.

There were several other big games in addition to the two OT affairs. The Browns beat the Steelers at Three Rivers Stadium for the first time in 16 tries, 27–24. They defeated Miami 26–16 on Monday Night Football, extracting some revenge for their loss to the Dolphins in the divisional playoffs the year before. They wound up clinching the AFC Central crown by going to Cincinnati in the next-to-last game and winning soundly, 34–3. The Bengals finished in second place at 10–6 but did not make the playoffs.

Kosar's career really took off in 1986, as he threw for 3,854 yards and seventeen touchdowns with just ten interceptions for an 83.8 quarterback rating. Wide receiver Brian Brennan, who led the way with 55 receptions and six scores, was one of seven Browns to catch 28 or more passes. The backfield combo of FB Kevin Mack and HB Earnest Byner battled injuries for much of the year. That, along with the increased emphasis on passing, caused the rushing numbers to go way down. As a team, the Browns got just 1,650 yards, with Mack rushing for a team-leading 665. He did, however, run for ten scores.

Hanford Dixon and Frank Minnifield were among the top cornerbacks in the league, leading a defense that excelled down the stretch, limiting the last four opponents to 17 or fewer points.

Cleveland opened the regular season on the road against the defending Super Bowl champion Chicago Bears. While the Browns played well in scoring 31 points against the feared Chicago defense, they surrendered a season-high 41 points in a losing effort. The team responded well and won four of the next five games, including wins against divisional rivals Houston and Pittsburgh. The win against Pittsburgh snapped a losing streak of sixteen games for the Browns in Three Rivers Stadium.

After a week seven loss at home against the Green Bay Packers, the Browns won eight of their last nine regular season games to capture the AFC Central division title and finish the year with a franchise-record 12 wins (against 4 losses).

The first round opponent for the Browns in the playoffs was the New York Jets. In a marathon game that lasted over four hours, the Browns won their first playoff game in 18 years, 23–20, on a 27-yard Mark Moseley field goal in double overtime.

Eight days later, the Browns hosted the Denver Broncos to determine the AFC Championship and a trip to Pasadena, California to face the New York Giants in the Super Bowl. In a repeat of the Browns' playoff game from the previous week, the game was, once again, undecided at the end of regulation with both teams having scored 20 points.Even though the Browns had star defensive players like Hanford Dixon and Frank Minnifield, the Broncos offense would not give up. The Broncos forced overtime on a 98-yard possession at the end of the fourth quarter that culminated in a game-tying touchdown and later became known simply as "The Drive". The Browns received the ball to begin the overtime period, but were forced to punt after running only three plays. The Broncos then took possession and ultimately scored the game winning points on a 33-yard field goal by Rich Karlis to send Denver to the Super Bowl.

This game is best remembered for The Drive when the Broncos drove 98 yards to tie the game with 37 seconds left in regulation, and Denver kicker Rich Karlis made the game-winning 33-yard field goal 5:38 into overtime.

1.
Cleveland Stadium
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Cleveland Stadium, commonly known as Municipal Stadium or Lakefront Stadium, was a multi-purpose stadium located in Cleveland, Ohio. It was one of the early multi-purpose stadiums, built to accommodate baseball and football. Through most of its tenure as a facility, the stadium was the largest in Major League Baseball by seating capacity, seating over 78,000 initially. For football, the stadium seated approximately 80,000 people, former Browns owner Art Modell took over control of the stadium from the city in the 1970s and while his organization made improvements to the facility, it continued to decline. The Indians played their game at the stadium in October 1993. The Browns played their game at the stadium in December 1995. Cleveland Stadium was demolished in 1996 to make way for FirstEnergy Stadium, much of the debris from the demolition was placed in Lake Erie to create an artificial reef. The impetus for Cleveland Municipal Stadium came from city manager William R, another common misconception is that Cleveland Municipal Stadium was a Works Progress Administration project, in fact, the WPA was not created until 1935, four years after the stadium was built. In November 1928, Cleveland voters passed by 112,448 to 76,975, a 59% passage rate, with 55% needed to pass, actual construction costs overran that amount by $500,000. Built during the administrations of city managers William R. Hopkins and Daniel E. Morgan, it was designed by the firms of Walker and Weeks. It featured an early use of structural aluminum, the stadium was dedicated on July 1,1931. On July 3,1931, it hosted a match for the National Boxing Association World Heavyweight Championship between Max Schmeling and Young Stribling, with 37,000 fans in attendance. Schmeling retained his title by a technical knockout -victory in the 15th round, the Donald Gray Gardens were installed on the stadiums north side in 1936 as part of the Great Lakes Exposition. They remained until the construction of Cleveland Browns Stadium, the Indians played all of their games at the stadium from the middle of the 1932 season through 1933. However, the players and fans complained about the huge outfield, moreover, as the Great Depression worsened, attendance plummeted. The Indians returned to their previous home, League Park. In 1937, the Indians began playing Sunday and holiday games at Cleveland Stadium during the summer, adding selected important games there in 1938. League Park lacked field lighting, so the emergence of baseball in the 1930s led to the addition of night games to the schedule after lights were installed at the stadium in 1939

2.
Cleveland Browns
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The Cleveland Browns are a professional American football team based in Cleveland, Ohio. The Browns compete in the National Football League as a club of the American Football Conference North division. The Browns play their games at FirstEnergy Stadium, which opened in 1999, with administrative offices and training facilities in Berea. The Browns official colors are brown, orange and white and they are unique among the 32 member franchises of the NFL in that they do not have a logo on their helmets and are the only team named after a specific person, original coach Paul Brown. The franchise was founded in 1945 by businessman Arthur B, McBride and coach Paul Brown as a charter member of the All-America Football Conference. The Browns dominated the AAFC, compiling a 47–4–3 record in the four active seasons. When the AAFC folded after the 1949 season, the Browns joined the National Football League along with the San Francisco 49ers, from 1965 to 1995, they made the playoffs 14 times, but did not win another championship or appear in the Super Bowl in that period. In 1995, owner Art Modell, who had purchased the Browns in 1961, announced plans to move the team to Baltimore, Maryland. The Browns intellectual property, including name, logos, training facility, and history, were kept in trust. A new team would be established by 1999 either by expansion or relocation, the Browns were announced as an expansion team in 1998 and resumed play in 1999. Since resuming operations in 1999, the Browns have struggled to find success and they have had only two winning seasons, one playoff appearance, and no playoff wins. The franchise has also noted for a lack of stability with quarterbacks. To date, the Browns overall win-loss record since 1999 is 88–200, the Browns origins date to 1944, when taxicab magnate Arthur B. Mickey McBride secured the rights to a Cleveland franchise in the newly formed All-America Football Conference. S, early in 1945, McBride named 36-year-old Ohio State Buckeyes coach Paul Brown as the teams head coach and general manager and gave him a share in its profits. The move surprised and upset Buckeye fans, who had hoped he would resume his successful run at the school after the war, the name of the team was at first left up to Paul Brown, who rejected calls for it to be christened the Browns. The franchise and the Cleveland Plain Dealer then held a naming contest to publicize the team, in June 1945, a committee selected Panthers as the new teams name, named after a failed American Football League franchise in Cleveland which only lasted a single season in 1926. It is unclear whether Panthers was the highest vote-getter, or if it was second-highest behind Browns, however, the owner of the failed AFL Panthers franchise, General C. X. Zimmerman, indicated that he owned the name Cleveland Panthers, at this point, Paul Brown bowed to popular sentiment and agreed to the Browns name

3.
National Football League
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The National Football League is a professional American football league consisting of 32 teams, divided equally between the National Football Conference and the American Football Conference. The NFL is one of the four professional sports leagues in North America. The NFLs 17-week regular season runs from the week after Labor Day to the week after Christmas, with each team playing 16 games, the NFL was formed in 1920 as the American Professional Football Association before renaming itself the National Football League for the 1922 season. The NFL agreed to merge with the American Football League in 1966, and the first Super Bowl was held at the end of that season, the merger was completed in 1970. Today, the NFL has the highest average attendance of any sports league in the world and is the most popular sports league in the United States. S. The NFLs executive officer is the commissioner, who has authority in governing the league. The team with the most NFL championships is the Green Bay Packers with thirteen, the current NFL champions are the New England Patriots, who defeated the Atlanta Falcons 34–28 in Super Bowl LI. Another meeting held on September 17,1920 resulted in the renaming of the league to the American Professional Football Association, the league hired Jim Thorpe as its first president, and consisted of 14 teams. Only two of these teams, the Decatur Staleys and the Chicago Cardinals, remain, the first event occurred on September 26,1920 when the Rock Island Independents defeated the non-league St. Paul Ideals 48–0 at Douglas Park. On October 3,1920, the first full week of league play occurred, the following season resulted in the Chicago Staleys controversially winning the title over the Buffalo All-Americans. In 1922, the APFA changed its name to the National Football League, in 1932, the season ended with the Chicago Bears and the Portsmouth Spartans tied for first in the league standings. This method had used since the leagues creation in 1920. The league quickly determined that a game between Chicago and Portsmouth was needed to decide the leagues champion. Playing with altered rules to accommodate the playing field, the Bears won the game 9–0. Fan interest in the de facto championship game led the NFL, beginning in 1933, the 1934 season also marked the first of 12 seasons in which African Americans were absent from the league. The de facto ban was rescinded in 1946, following public pressure, the NFL was always the foremost professional football league in the United States, it nevertheless faced a large number of rival professional leagues through the 1930s and 1940s. Rival leagues included at least three separate American Football Leagues and the All-America Football Conference, on top of regional leagues of varying caliber. Three NFL teams trace their histories to these leagues, including the Los Angeles Rams

4.
Marty Schottenheimer
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Martin Edward Schottenheimer is a former professional American football player and coach. Over his career, he has served as coach of the Cleveland Browns, Kansas City Chiefs, Washington Redskins. He has the most wins of any NFL coach to never coach a team in a Super Bowl. He was fired from his coaching position with the San Diego Chargers in 2007, after leading the Chargers to a 14–2 regular season record. He later emerged as the coach of the Virginia Destroyers of the United Football League. In 21 years as an NFL head coach, Schottenheimer won 200 regular season games and 5 out of 18 games in the postseason and he is the only coach in NFL history with at least 200 wins that has a losing playoff record. Schottenheimer was born in Canonsburg, Pennsylvania and he attended high school at Fort Cherry High School in McDonald, Pennsylvania. He signed with the Bills and spent the four seasons with Buffalo, including the Bills 1965 AFL Championship season. Schottenheimer was still with the team during the 1969 preseason and intercepted two passes in a game against the Houston Oilers, some time between the 1969 preseason and regular season, Schottenheimer was sent to the Boston Patriots and spent the next two seasons with the Pats. He was traded to the Pittsburgh Steelers in 1971 but was traded again to the Colts before the beginning of the 1971 season and he retired from football in 1971 and spent the next several years working in the real estate industry. Schottenheimer credits his professional playing career as being his inspiration for coaching, Schottenheimer came out of retirement in 1974 to sign with the Portland Storm of the World Football League as a player-coach. He injured his shoulder prior to the start of the season, Schottenheimers professional coaching career began in 1974 when he became linebackers coach for the Portland Storm of the World Football League. In 1975 he was hired as a coach for the NFLs New York Giants. Schottenheimer spent 1978 and 1979 as the coach for the NFLs Detroit Lions. In 1980, he was hired as the coordinator for the Cleveland Browns. The Browns were down 17–16 in the quarter, and lost on an interception in New Englands end zone as time expired. Chants of Goodbye Sam rung out from the stands after the New England game, Browns owner Art Modell called the play-calling inexcusable and fired Rutigliano two weeks later. The 1–7 Browns then went 4–4 under Schottenheimer to finish the season with a 5–11 record, the selection of University of Miami quarterback Bernie Kosar in 1985s supplemental draft ushered in a new, largely successful era for Cleveland

5.
Bill Cowher
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William Laird Cowher is a former professional American football coach and player in the National Football League. In Cowhers 15 seasons as coach of the Pittsburgh Steelers. Cowher led the Steelers to the Super Bowl twice, winning one and he is the second coach in NFL history to reach the playoffs in each of his first six seasons as head coach, a feat previously accomplished by Paul Brown. Cowher resigned as coach of the Steelers on January 5,2007,11 months after winning Super Bowl XL in 2006 over the Seattle Seahawks. Cowher was replaced by current Steelers head coach Mike Tomlin, before being hired by the Steelers in 1992, Cowher served as an assistant coach for the Cleveland Browns and Kansas City Chiefs under head coach Marty Schottenheimer. He is currently a studio analyst for The NFL Today, born in Crafton, Pennsylvania, a suburb of Pittsburgh, Cowher excelled in football, basketball, and track for Carlynton High. At North Carolina State University, he was a linebacker, team captain. He graduated in 1979 with a degree in education. Cowher began his NFL career as a linebacker with the Philadelphia Eagles in 1979, Cowher played three seasons in Cleveland, making him a member of the Kardiac Kids, before being traded back to the Eagles, where he played two more years. His tenure in Philadelphia included tackling a young Jeff Fisher when playing against the Chicago Bears, Cowher primarily played special teams during his playing career, and placed emphasis on special teams during his coaching career. Cowher began his career in 1985 at age 28 under Marty Schottenheimer with the Cleveland Browns. He was the Browns special teams coach in 1985–86 and secondary coach in 1987–88 before following Schottenheimer to the Kansas City Chiefs in 1989 as defensive coordinator. He became the 15th head coach in Steelers history when he succeeded Chuck Noll on January 21,1992 –, in 1995, at age 38, he became the youngest coach to lead his team to a Super Bowl. Cowher is only the second coach in NFL history to lead his team to the playoffs in each of his first six seasons as head coach and he is one of only six coaches in NFL history to claim at least seven division titles. At the conclusion of the 2005 season, the Steelers had the best record of any team in the NFL since Cowher was hired as head coach. On February 5,2006, Cowhers Pittsburgh Steelers won Super Bowl XL by defeating the Seattle Seahawks 21–10, through the Super Bowl, Cowhers team had compiled a record of 108–1–1 in games in which they built a lead of at least 11 points. During the following season, there was talk about Cowher leaving the Steelers, on January 5,2007, Cowher stepped down after 15 years at the helm of the franchise. The Steelers hired former Minnesota Vikings defensive coordinator Mike Tomlin as Cowhers successor, Cowhers record as a head coach is 149–90–1

6.
WTAM
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WTAM – branded Newsradio WTAM1100 – is a commercial news/talk radio station licensed to Cleveland, Ohio, serving Greater Cleveland and much of surrounding Northeast Ohio. WTAM is a station with an extended nighttime range, often identifying itself as The Big One. The WTAM studios are located in the Cleveland suburb of Independence, besides a standard analog transmission, WTAM had also broadcast over a single HD Radio channel and is available online via iHeartRadio. The station first carried the WTAM call letters from 1923 to 1956, assigned sequentially by the FCC, the station re-adopted the same call letters in 1996 to reinforce the stations position on the AM band, station management considered the historical tie a nice bonus, but. WTAM began broadcast operations on September 26,1923 and it was one of several stations that started between 1922 and 1923 with a call sign assigned sequentially by the Commerce Department with W as the first letter and A as the third. It was originally owned by S. E, Lawrence and Theodore Willard, in the name of the Willard Storage Battery Company. Initially the station only offered three hours of programming, but soon expanded its on-air lineup. Studios were located in the Willard factory on Taft Avenue at East 131st Street, by June 30,1924, WTAM was broadcasting with 1000 watts and sharing the 770 kHz frequency with WJAX. WJAX had signed on earlier in 1922, owned by the Union Trust Co, in 1924 it was known as the Wave from Lake Erie. Goodyear Tire & Rubber Co. purchased WJAX in 1925 and changed to the callsign to WEAR, finally, Willard Battery purchased WEAR to have control of shared frequency allocation. WTAM was the first radio station to broadcast coverage of a convention when it covered the 1924 Republican National Convention at Clevelands Public Auditorium on June 10–12,1924. The stations power increased to 2500 watts in 1925 and to 3500 watts in 1926, by June 30,1927, WTAM and WEAR broadcast on 750 kHz with WTAM broadcasting with 3500 watts. The January 31,1928 Radio Service Bulletin of the Commerce Department listed WTAM broadcasting with 3500 watts at night and 5000 watts during the day. After Willard Battery threatened to close the station, WTAM and WEAR were purchased by the Cleveland Electric Illuminating Company, entered into arrangements to continue it. Every effort will be made to maintain the station on a plane which will make it of value to the community. In 1929 the station built two broadcast towers in Brecksville, Ohio, each 200 feet high, with its national prominence as a clear channel giant established, WTAM became a valuable radio property. NBC purchased WTAM on October 16,1930, and the studios were moved to the Auditorium Building, the station became a major link in the NBC Red Network, contributing some programming to the network. Around 1930, Gene Carroll and Glenn Rowell brought their vaudeville humor to WTAM with the Gene, the duo became famous for their characters Jake & Lena

7.
AFC Championship Game
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The AFC Championship Game is one of the two semi-final playoff games of the National Football League, the largest professional American football league in the United States. The game is played on the penultimate Sunday in January and determines the champion of the American Football Conference, the winner then advances to face the winner of the National Football Conference Championship Game in the Super Bowl. The game was established as part of the 1970 merger between the NFL and the American Football League, with the merged league realigning into two conferences. Since 1984, each winner of the AFC Championship Game has also received the Lamar Hunt Trophy, named after the founder of the AFL and longtime leader of the Kansas City Chiefs, Lamar Hunt. The first AFC Championship Game was played following the 1970 regular season after the merger between the NFL and the American Football League. The game is considered the successor to the former AFL Championship, every AFC team except the Houston Texans has played in an AFC Championship Game at least once. The Pittsburgh Steelers have the most appearances in the AFC Championship Game at 16, with 11 of those games being in Pittsburgh, at the end of each regular season, a series of playoff games involving the top six teams in the AFC are conducted. In the current NFL playoff structure, this consists of the four division champions, the two teams remaining following the Wild Card round and the divisional round play in the AFC Championship game. Initially, the site of the game was determined on a rotating basis, since the 1975–76 season, the site of the AFC Championship has been based on playoff seeding based on the regular season won-loss record, with the highest surviving seed hosting the game. A wild card team can only host the game if both participants are wild cards, in case the fifth seed would host the sixth seed. Such an instance has never occurred in the NFL, beginning with 1984–85 season, the winner of the AFC Championship Game has received the Lamar Hunt Trophy, named after the founder of the AFL. The original design consisted of a base with a sculpted AFC logo in the front. Numbers in parentheses in the table are AFC Championships, bold indicates team won Super Bowl that year. ^ b, The Seahawks were members of the NFC in 1976 and then members of the AFC from 1977 to 2001, including their appearances in the NFC Championship Game, they hold a combined 3–1 record between both Conference Championship Games. ^ c, The Buccaneers were members of the AFC in 1976 before moving to the NFC in 1977, ^ e, Includes appearances as the Baltimore Colts, where they went 1–1 in AFC Championship Games. Since moving to Indianapolis in 1984, the Colts are 2–3 in AFC Championship Games ^ f, Includes appearances as the Houston Oilers, since moving to Tennessee in 1997, they are 1–1 in AFC Championship Games. Los Angeles Raiders Largest margin of victory –48 points**, January 20,1991 – Buffalo Bills vs

8.
Art Modell
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Arthur Bertram Art Modell was an American businessman, entrepreneur and National Football League team owner. He owned the Cleveland Browns franchise for 35 years and established the Baltimore Ravens franchise, however, he made controversial actions during his ownership, which included the firing of Paul Brown, the franchises first coach and namesake. In 1995, Modell faced widespread scorn in Cleveland when he attempted to relocate the Browns to Baltimore, while the Browns were ultimately able to remain in Cleveland, Modell was allowed to retain the contracts of all Browns personnel, who formed the Baltimore Ravens in 1996. Modells impact on the Browns franchise remains controversial due to the Browns consistent struggles since returning to the league as a team in 1999. Art Modell is widely known as one of the most hated men in Cleveland sports history, Modell also once stated his team was losing money, when they were in fact 5th in the NFL for attendance and 2nd in Nielson Ratings. Modell was born to a Jewish family in Brooklyn, New York and his father George was a wine sales manager who went bankrupt after the stock market crash of 1929 and later died when Modell was 14. Modell attended New Utrecht High School, at the age of 15, Modell left high school to help support his family. His first job was cleaning the hulls of ships in a Brooklyn shipyard, in 1943, when he was 18, he joined the US Army Air Corps. After World War II, he enrolled in a New York City television school under the G. I. In 1947, he founded his own company with a fellow student and in 1949, they produced one of the first daytime shows in the country, Market Melodies. Modell sold the idea of his show to the Grand Union grocery store chain and Modell installed televisions, at his expense, at the time, very few households had televisions so the store format was wildly successful. In 1954, using the lucrative Grand Union account as leverage, hartman Co. in New York City, eventually becoming a partner. Formed after the Prohibition era, the L. H, hartman was primarily involved in liquor advertising. In 1958, Modell bought an upstate New York champagne maker, hartman was dissolved, and Modell again used his Grand Union account to land a job as senior vice president at the advertising firm Kastor, Hilton, Chesley, Clifford & Atherton. During the 1940s and 1950s, Modell worked in the advertising, public relations businesses and he purchased the Cleveland Browns in 1961 for $4 million, investing only $250,000 of his own money. He borrowed $2.7 million and found partners to cover the rest, unlike the Browns previous owners, Modell immediately took an active role in the management of the team, and fired legendary coach Paul Brown on January 9,1963. Paul Brown had won seven league championships prior to Modells acquisition of the team, after firing Brown, Modell quickly named Browns assistant, Blanton Collier, as the new coach on January 16,1963. The Browns beat the Colts 27–0 in Cleveland Municipal Stadium and this particular Browns team consisted of many players initially drafted and acquired by Brown

9.
Lindy Infante
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Infante was born in Miami, Florida in 1940. He attended Miami Senior High School, where he played school football and was the star fullback for the Miami Stingarees. Infante accepted a scholarship to attend the University of Florida in Gainesville, Florida. He was also a member of Sigma Nu fraternity while he was an undergraduate, during his undergraduate playing days, he also suffered two severe injuries, a ruptured lung against the LSU Tigers in 1960, and a season-ending broken leg against LSU in 1962. He went on to serve as the coordinator at Memphis State from 1972 to 1974. Infante was the coordinator of the Cincinnati Bengals in the early 1980s under Forrest Gregg. His offense, quarterbacked by Ken Anderson, led the Bengals to the 1981 AFC title, Infante served as the Bulls head coach during their two spring football seasons in 1984 and 1985. After the USFL folded following its second and last season, he became the coordinator of the Bernie Kosar-quarterbacked Cleveland Browns during the 1986 and 1987 NFL fall seasons. Under Infante, the 1987 Browns were the second-highest-scoring offense in the AFC, in 1988, Infante became an NFL head coach for the first time, leaving Cleveland to replace Forrest Gregg as head coach of the Green Bay Packers. That first season, the Packers endured losing streaks of five and seven games, for his efforts, Infante was named the 1989 AP NFL Coach of the Year. In 1990, the Packers started 6–5, only to lose their final five games and finish 6–10 and that five-game losing streak continued into 1991, when the Packers lost six of their first seven games, and finished 4–12. A 27–7 season-ending victory over the Vikings notwithstanding, Infante was fired by the Packers new general manager, Ron Wolf and he was succeeded by Mike Holmgren, then the offensive coordinator of the San Francisco 49ers. A second opportunity to be a coach in the NFL came in 1996, when Infante replaced the retired Ted Marchibroda as head coach of the Indianapolis Colts. The season opened with success, as the Colts started 5–1. Although they qualified for the playoffs as a wild card team, although the Colts led 14–13 at the half, a second half collapse allowed the Steelers to claim a 42–14 victory. It was Infantes only NFL playoff game, Indianapolis lost their first ten games of the 1997 season, Infante was fired shortly after the seasons end. As an NFL head coach, Infante compiled a record of 36–60–0. After his retirement, Infante lived in Crescent Beach, Florida with his wife Stephanie and he died in St. Augustine, Florida on October 8,2015, aged 75

The Cleveland Browns are a professional American football team based in Cleveland, Ohio. The Browns compete in the …

Paul Brown, the first head coach and namesake of the Browns, who won four AAFC and three NFL championships as coach of the Browns, is a Pro Football Hall of Fame member, and is widely regarded as one of football's greatest coaches of all time.

Former Browns FB Jim Brown was a prominent member of the 1964 NFL championship team, the team's all-time leader in rushing yards, and a Pro Football Hall of Fame member. He is currently a special advisor with the Browns.

The AFL–NFL merger was the merger of the two major professional American football leagues in the United States at the …

AFL and NFL teams at the time of the merger. Following the merger, all ten former AFL teams as well as Pittsburgh, Cleveland, and Baltimore from the pre-merger NFL joined the AFC. All thirteen remaining NFL teams joined the NFC.